Beauty

[Two Hearts]

HI,

Sorry to post off topic here but alot of you beauties give such great advice, I need a bit of help.

What is the best way to reduce my credit card debt. I NEVER used cards and then all of a sudden "BAM" it snuck up on me. It was like one thing after the other, car issues, medical bill, home repair, short on cash...CRAZY. I have STOPPED using and try to pay more than minimum, since the interest is nuts. I am searching for a part time job, just to pay off debt ($8000.00) ...I am embarassed and mad at myself. I know I got myself into this mess and now I need to find the best way out. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[myshell624]

If you have some form of collateral, you might qualify for a personal loan from a bank. My in laws got into something similar after losing their jobs. They borrowed enough money against their house and paid off their debts once they both got new jobs. The interest is usually a lot better and you only have one payment to focus on. Good luck!

[springers]

Google Dave Ramsey, he has a radio show (i listen online cause my area doesnt air it). People call in with how much debt they paid off. This helps me from charging. He says list all debts smallest to largest, make min. pymts. on all bills and attack the smallest debt with remaining money. Once the smallest balance is paid move to next on list, while paying min pymts. on other debts. The reason he says to start w smallest unlike highest interest is we get motivated when we see the list of debt cut. Most debt is comparable interest.

[UMDTerpFan]

Don't be so hard on yourself. Life happens. I have way more debt than that and I'm an accountant and should have known better! I've read several recommendations of what should be paid off first. How Mychelle624 recommended is one way, another way is to pay off higher interest rate debt first. So that's the way that I've tackled it. I've paid off 2/3rds so far but still have a ways to go. A third way is a combination with paying off both higher interest rate debt and smaller debt balances first while trying to rebalance so that you are not at more than 50% borrowed on any particular debt line. There's a lot of good financial information on the net by experts and some very good radio talk shows about the subject as well. Good luck to you!

[BLH]

Sell some things that you don't need and if you don't have the money for something, don't buy it.

[circles]

On 5/13/2014 springers said: Google Dave Ramsey, he has a radio show (i listen online cause my area doesnt air it). People call in with how much debt they paid off. This helps me from charging. He says list all debts smallest to largest, make min. pymts. on all bills and attack the smallest debt with remaining money. Once the smallest balance is paid move to next on list, while paying min pymts. on other debts. The reason he says to start w smallest unlike highest interest is we get motivated when we see the list of debt cut. Most debt is comparable interest.

this makes ultimate sense...there is nothing like a paid off debt to keep you moving along....

I liken it to when I have many projects to get done....I make a list...easiest first...then keep plugging away till I am done...crossing them off as I go...

Good Luck....OP....

[151949]

I think the best thing - as the OP has mentioned is to get a job to earn more money and pay it off. Then after you do - keep the job so you have cash to spend and are not using your CC in the first place. Good luck. $8000 is not a horrible amount of debt - you can do this.

[curlywhitedog]

One of the hardest things to do is to pay off debt with minimum payments so good for you that you're paying more than is being asked for. I skimmed the posts above me and I didn't see this suggestion (hope I didn't miss it) but find a 0% CC and move your balances to that one and pay down as much as you can. If there's not much left and you think you can handle the payments, with interest, in 6 months or less then do it, if not, see if you can transfer whatever balances are left to a different 0% interest CC.

I use my cards for everything but I don't use them as credit cards, I use them as charge card so I carry no balances and never pay an interest fee, never. There's a freedom that comes from not owing anybody any money, a freedom that feels better than anything you can buy.

Maria

[GCR18]

The experts say pay the most to the card with the largest interest rate, then the minimum on the rest. If you want to make it a priority, it calls for deep cuts. Cut the cable back to basic, no eating out, no morning coffee stop, stop the paper, don't renew magazines, cancel the gym membership, no vacations, no main/pedi, no frills at the grocery store, clip coupons, make thoughtful gifts, log every penny spent, only pay cash, etc. By cutting back, the debt will be gone in no time. Credit card debit is unsecured debt, I wouldn't take out a loan to pay it off.

[Mom2Dogs]

Over spending happens to most everyone, the goal now it to pay it off like you want to.

If you can, have a garage sale, this time of year is best for that, you might be surprised to see what you really don't like/want any more, it's two fold, make some quick extra money and rid your home of unwanted things.

I do listen to Dave Ramsey I was doing the envelope method long before it became popular, that's how I managed my money when I was single living on my own. I don't use that method any more but I try to stay on a budget, not always easy....good luck you'll get there you seem motivated!